The large majority of people believe that disasters will never occur in their city, town, or neighborhood. Those things only happen to other people. For the sake of this post, let’s just suppose that a disaster could happen to you. Are you prepared?

Where would you go for safety?

How would you communicate with your family or your employer?

Could you access emergency supplies, your treasured belongings, pets, and important files?

Disaster preparedness isn’t just a job for FEMA. The truth is, we should all be prepared to handle the unexpected at a moment’s notice.

Forethought and preplanning facilitate optimal decision making.

Consider these Examples:

Say you are taking a cruise through the gorgeous blue Caribbean. It takes only a few minutes away from making memories to pay attention during the mandatory safety briefing covering lifeboats and emergency procedures.

Does your place of employment have designated safe places should the need arise to shelter in place due to severe weather?

Perhaps you moved to California from the Midwest and you now must consider the possibility of earthquakes. Reviewing your homeowner’s insurance policy and securing heavy furniture to the walls doesn’t seem too far out of line does it?

Suppose you attend a large church with over 3,000 members and a child gets lost. Does the church have a Lost Child Policy? Do you know if your church has made any disaster or emergency preparations?

Preparedness takes on many forms in your life. Work, home, play…we must all be prepared for a variety of situations at all times. Situational Awareness as some call it, is lifesaving. Being situationally aware doesn’t make you paranoid or nervous. In fact, being mindful of possibilities and how you would respond puts you in the best position possible: Proactive rather than Reactive.